Picture Perfect
by EmbraceDiversity
Summary: July 2010 contest entry that won first place at the SasuHina club on Deviantart. It's Sasuke's birthday and it's pure fluff. Complete.


AN: This was written for the SasuxHina contest for July. It just kind of popped into my head and so I wrote it. It's complete and total fluff. I suck at titles and I'm possibly insultingly unoriginal so it got the contest's name. XD It's pure fluff gaiz, pure fluff. It's also not M! I'm kind of proud of myself. XD

xxxxx

**Picture Perfect**

xxxxx

Idly, dark eyes moved back and forth as he watched his girlfriend basically skitter around his apartment, face flushed and nibbling on her bottom lip looking deep in thought. She seemed oblivious to his presence as he sat at his small dining room table, a ghost of a smile on his face as he becomes highly amused by the scene. After five minutes of her shifting around, pulling out items and putting away items he continued to carefully watch her, making sure that she was completely oblivious to his presence before opening his mouth.

"What are you doing?"

Were it not for years of practicing being All That Is Stoic he would have laughed out loud when she practically jumped five feet in the air, long violet hair swaying as she spun, pearl colored eyes wide as saucers. Really, it was just too easy sometimes and she set herself up for it – that was his story and he was sticking to it. Instead of laughing or smiling he tilted his head slightly as his chin rested up on his hand, looking at her with bored detachment.

His amusement turned to curiosity when she paled and looked as if she had just had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Interesting. So she was hiding something. That was rather rare, they were usually pretty open with each other.

"S-S-Sasuke!" she was definitely nervous and her pale face then flamed with color. He slid out of his chair, a small smirk emerging. Slowly he stalked over to her, hands in his pockets, taking note of how for every step forward she took two back. She had told him once than when he walked over to her like he was doing now he looked as if he wanted to eat her, which in turn made her nervous at times.

It wasn't _too_ far from the truth, he supposed.

"It's a little early to be stopping by don't you think?" he was teasing her at this point, hands moving to her hips to pull her close. She let out a small squeak and he buried his face in her neck, taking in her natural scent. He loved how she didn't use perfumes or other obnoxious things like girls tended to do. Although he hadn't expected her to come over, seeing her, as always, made him feel…

"I, um…" her soft voice removed him from his thoughts and he blinked down at her, his expression perfectly neutral. Her face began to take on a less guilty look as she looked up at him. And then there it was, that _look_. Her pearl eyes would grow warm and she'd smile demurely but it was the emotion behind it, the obvious love and adoration, which always made him turn his head away, embarrassed but pleased. "W-well I was just…" since he wasn't giving her enough room to poke her fingers together instead she slid them up his chest – if he told her how much her touch affected him she'd probably never do it again out of sheer embarrassment – before burying her face there, like an ostrich hiding its head in a hole. Resisting the urge to sigh he put his arms around her, looking down at the top of her head.

"Hinata." His voice was firm "What are you up to?"

This made her jump away from him, waving her hands up in the air and shaking her head, face bright red "N-n-nothing! I, um…i-it's nothing a-at all!"

_You're the worst liar _ever_._ He thought but said nothing and settled for staring her down instead. Apparently his girlfriend was up to _something_ and trying to pry it out of her would only test his non-existent patience. When Hinata didn't want you to know something you weren't going to know it. This time he did sigh out loud, giving her a look as he put his hand behind his head "Fine. Don't tell me, I'll figure it out on my own anyway."

She looked rather sheepish and he became annoyed with himself when his slight irritation with her faded. Why did she have to look so…so…_cute_? It was really hard to be angry at a face like that. Now that she wasn't in his embrace she started doing that finger pointing thing and once again he had to turn his gaze from her. She was more maddening than any fan girl he had ever had and as embarrassing as it was at times, he liked it. Hinata made him _feel_, something he had thought beyond him years ago.

"I'll tell you…um…j-just not right now." She promised, giving him a lopsided smile. "There are…things…and…"

He let her trail off, she did that all the time, and smirked a bit "I'm not known for my patience Hyuuga," came the reminder "I'm giving you a week."

Hinata's face lit up and her small smile turned into a bright one "Thank you, Sasuke."

The smirk faded as words shifted from his chest to his throat, threatening to emerge. His mouth opened slightly before he got a hold of himself and put a clamp down on his emotions. Sasuke had never said it, and probably never would, but he was aware of how significant someone like Hinata was in his life. How it had all came to be, the fact that they were together now, it wasn't taken for granted. It was times like this, with Hinata just being Hinata, that he'd be sharply reminded of just _how_ fortunate he was and how it almost hadn't happened. He didn't like wondering what would have happened if he had remained an idiot two years ago.

As if reading his mind she was there, her arms around his neck and a reassuring smile on her face. _I'm not going anywhere._ Her gaze said it clearly and he felt silly. Of course she wasn't; she loved him and he really needed to stop letting what almost hadn't happened affect him. His hand reached into his pocket, thumb moving over a small velvet box.

Of course, didn't hurt to have some extra assurance.

xxxxx

He must have fallen asleep reading because when he opened his eyes there were soft shuffling sounds and he could clearly sense his girlfriend's chakra. It was a rather pleasant surprise; she had said she would be gone on her mission for at least three more days. It was early evening so at first he couldn't see her clearly in the darkness of his apartment as he sat up. He put his book down right as she cut on the light and he started, unable to help the look of surprise on his face.

Her hair was partly up with curls all over, the rest coming down to her lower back. She wore little makeup but didn't need it, the natural blush on her porcelain skin was enough. Around her neck was the pendant he had given her on her birthday last year, jade in the form of a teardrop with some sort of bird he didn't remember the name of anymore. It had been a last minute grab – he had found out that day that it had been her birthday – but she had loved it and he had felt that he had finally gotten the hang of this 'boyfriend' stuff. Her dress was strapless and a deep blue, sloping down on one side from her thigh to her ankle. She looked extremely nervous, as if waiting for him to say something, but nothing came to mind.

She was beautiful and he was, well, speechless. He blinked at her a few times but that was it concerning a reaction.

This made her nervous and she shifted "I…t-thought that maybe s-since I came back e-early that maybe we c-could…um go o-out f-f-for dinner."

He actually stared at her for a full minute before blinking again "What?" he hadn't heard a word "What did you say?"

She repeated it, more nervously than before, and he just nodded numbly and stood up, heading for his bedroom to change into something more appropriate for whatever occasion this seemed to be. He had known his girlfriend had a figure behind those jackets and baggy pants and it wasn't as if he hadn't seen her wearing more casual items but…wow. If this was her way of surprising him he sure as hell didn't mind it.

After showering and shrugging on a black silk shirt and dark pants that Sakura had gotten him a while back as a 'welcome home' present he looked over at his dresser where a little black box sat. He hadn't been able to gather enough courage to ask her – or rather had been terrified of the potential rejection but he'd never admit it – and he had to admit this was the perfect chance. He hesitated a few times, deciding to do it and then changing his mind, before he grew irritated with himself and snatched the box out of his drawer, shoving it into his pocket. He was being an idiot.

"Alright," he said calmly as he walked out of his bedroom, his gaze settling on the beautiful woman that had been standing there waiting for him patiently "Where to?"

Since Sasuke didn't go out much – the villagers didn't exactly get warm fuzzies whenever he was around – he had no idea about this new restaurant she was talking about. She had said something about it having a nice view of the village or whatever but he really hadn't been paying attention because, well…she _really_ looked good in that dress. She might have asked him a question or two but he couldn't remember as he had been way too distracted by swaying hips.

Naruto could _have_ Sakura, his girlfriend was _way_ hotter.

It was actually a rather quaint, quiet place and it did indeed have a rather amazing view of the village below. The latter he didn't really care about but Hinata was beside herself and he couldn't help but smile at her innocent nature. She was all blushes and smiles and he made a note to try and do this again sometime. Because he was who he was they couldn't really go out on dates like this but Hinata had never complained or even hinted that she even wanted to do those types of things. They did go out, just to secluded areas and away from people.

They didn't talk much during the actual dinner but the silence was, as always, comfortable. Mostly he watched her look out the window and it suddenly hit him that he was there, with a girlfriend, living an actual normal life. It was still unbelievable to him at times.

With that came nervousness because he was about to take his life in a bigger direction towards the future and not the past.

His girlfriend began to fidget which suitably distracted him because it meant she was trying to gather the courage to say or ask something. He decided to help her out "Something up?"

Nervously, she reached her hand out and he took it, raising a dark brow curiously at her antics. Ever since that day he had caught her sneaking around his apartment she had been jittery and extremely nervous about something. Biting her lip she looked up at him "I…I h-have something f-for you."

_She does? _"You do?" there was a pause because she did have a very small purse with her but that was it. Unless it was really tiny, he had absolutely no idea where she had been hiding it with _that_ dress on.

Sasuke's surprise made her giggle and relax a bit and she nodded. Their gazes locked for a moment and he decided it was now or never "I…have something for you too."

Her reaction was a little confusing as she had looked surprised but also confused, as if he had done something out of the norm. Letting go of her hand he coughed and looked away, hand nervously pulling the box from his pocket. He didn't see Hinata reach down to pick up something but they both sat back up at the exact same time and spoke simultaneously.

"Happy Birthday Sasuke."

"Hinata, will you marry me?"

Both brunettes blinked at each other with wide astonishment. She was holding out a slender box wrapped in silver and he had opened his box, revealing a very simple but beautiful diamond ring. They continued to stare at each other for a while until Sasuke said the first thing that cut through the numbness of his mind.

"It's my birthday?" he had completely forgotten, it wasn't something he really tried to take note of anymore. Last year Hinata had found out after the fact and had actually been so upset with him for not telling her that she hadn't spoken to him for almost a week. It had been their first argument since they had been together.

The question was apparently absurd enough for the both of them to start laughing at their awkwardness with each other but Sasuke recovered first, nerves hitting him as he took her hand. The present was set down in front of him but his focus was on her hand as he nervously – him nervous! – slid the ring on her finger.

"I know…" he paused, briefly clearing his throat. He still wasn't looking at her "that it's only been two years but I…" would she understand with his proposal what he couldn't say in words?

He was cut off when her fingers interlaced with his. He stared briefly at their joined hands, the ring sparkling lightly in the low light, before his dark gaze settled on her face. Her entire face, ears and all, were crimson but there was a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. The Uchiha had never felt so relieved about anything in his entire life when she looked up at him lovingly and said "Yes".

How long they had sat there like that he had no idea, but once again he broke the spell; his hand sliding from hers to cup her cheek. She leaned against him and there were no words for what he was feeling at that moment. Fiancée. It was strange to him to think of her like that, but it wasn't unpleasant.

After a moment she blinked and pointed down – with her ring hand, he noted pleasantly – at his present "P-please open it…I um…hope you like it."

Carefully – he wasn't an uncivilized _loser_ like Naruto who turned his wrapping paper into confetti – he unwrapped his present which revealed a photo album. It wasn't just _any_ photo album, it was a standard size and trimmed with silver. It was that which caught his eye, for engraved were his name and his clan symbol. He wondered what she had ended up having to go through to find someone in the village to do something like that for her because he sure as hell wasn't popular with the locals.

The cover was otherwise in black velvet but he found himself tracing over the symbol with a blank expression before opening the book. The pictures there varied and he could tell she had gone to Naruto and Sakura for some of them. Maybe even Kakashi, if that guy even had pictures of them. The first few pages were all of him and his team, even Sai was in a few of them. The next set was of him and Hinata and a lot of them he had no idea had even been taken. Some of them were familiar and he now knew why she had been skittering around in his apartment, she had been trying to find photos.

It was the last set of pictures that almost made him drop the book on the table. His hand was actually shaking as fingers moved over the picture of his family, of pictures with his mom, dad and Itachi. Pictures of all of them together, or of him with his brother. He knew all of these pictures, he had left them behind years ago but…

"_How?"_ he looked up at her in astonishment. She blushed prettily and looked down, smiling. It took him a moment before a real smile emerged and he actually laughed. "You stole them from the archives?" he couldn't believe it, his sweet little Hinata had actually snuck into the Hokage tower and dug through all of the items that had been confiscated when he had left. He had gotten some of them back but Tsunade had been rather stingy with the rest and he had been too apathetic at the time to fight it "If that old lady finds out…" looking down at the pictures again he continued to move through the pages and his expression turned somber "Hinata, thanks." He said very seriously and he could tell that she was incredibly happy that he had liked the present. How could he not? It must have taken her months to gather all of it and she had done it for _him_.

When they entered his apartment again he swept her into his embrace, framed her face in his hands and kissed her. It wasn't hard or demanding but it was passionate and he held her close. He wasn't very good with words so he hoped that she would understand what he wanted to say through his actions. They parted, breathless, and a delicate hand brushed along his jaw as she looked up at him with those beautiful pearl eyes.

"I love you." She said for the first time and he smiled slightly because he knew that she had understood. She had waited until he had been ready to hear those words and it only proved to him that she really was perfect for him.

"Yeah." Was the soft response before he took her lips once more. _I love you too._


End file.
